Moonlighting a bit from his gig as tour manager for Midland, Josh Desure released his self-titled debut solo EP in 2019 to critical acclaim. Pollen follows that EP and finds Desure working with co-producers Cameron Duddy, who plays bass for Midland, and singer-songwriter Jonathan Tyler, blending soul, pop, and heartland rock across six melodic tracks. "I want to show people that I don't just make one certain kind of music and that I'm capable of more," Desure tells Apple Music. "And that I also listen to all types of music, so it's only natural for me to make all kinds of music." Below, Desure talks through how he made the Pollen EP. Masochist "That was actually the first real co-write that I've done. Everything else before that was stuff that I had written on my own. And it's a really good example of the process that we took, bringing in our friends and players that we liked and just kind of throwing around ideas until something was fully formed. We were messing around on the drum machine, and that was the first time that I had used a drum machine in my music as well. And we made a beat, Cameron jumped on the bass, we hit record, and that's what you hear. And so it kind of just grew from there." Cocaine Smile "I wrote that a very long time ago and I kind of just sat on it for a long time. I played it in live shows here and there, but never got the chance to record it. I had written the song about a friend of mine. We used to listen to records in her apartment and dance around, and she kind of had this crooked smile and I would call it a 'cocaine smile.' I romanticize little moments like that and expand on them. I was thinking of that person and that friend and the moment, just having a good time, and that song kind of sparked out of that." On Me (feat. Nikki Lane) "For the rest of the songs, there was a lot put into them as far as production and instruments and just adding a lot of layers. And this one, I was like, 'I just want guitars, make it very simple, some piano, kind of like a Gram Parsons kind of vibe.' And that's Nikki doing her best Emmylou [Harris] and kind of lending herself to the song. She came in and she sang on it and it was just beautiful. That's definitely one of my favorite songs on the record." Hi/Lo "So 'Hi/Lo' was kind of how it all came about with me deciding to work with Cam Duddy and Johnny Tyler. I was living in Austin and I was cutting demos and kind of workshopping songs with Cameron in the studio. And he called me up, he said, 'Come by and we'll try out these songs, just write and get stuff out, keep busy.' And that was one that we just started writing and I didn't think anything of it. I was like, 'I really like this vibe in the studio. We should just make an entire album and kind of just keep this thing going.'" Petty Pain "That was actually one of the first songs that I ever wrote. I've had demos throughout the years of it and I've always played it live and people always ask about it. And it's just something that I never got around to putting out. It's about letting go of the past and letting go of things that are just out of your control and one day you can look back on. For me, I don't want to wonder or dwell on these things." Forever I'm Hers "It's a love letter to my wife, and I think it's such a beautiful tune. And it just felt right to end the EP with this one, just the vibe of the song. I had a little bit written and it kind of just came naturally to us and we all added some things. I had the guitar written and some of the vocals and then it just kind of flowed."